Perception of Safety

Monday

Apr 23, 2007 at 8:01 AM

After the college campus shooting at Virginia Tech, students at colleges around the country began to wonder if their school was as safe as they perceived. “It was like Columbine again,” said Katherine Ward, junior interior design major at the University of Alabama. “Honestly, it could have happened anywhere,” Ward said.

Laura Fenton

Thirty-two students and teachers were killed Mon. April 16 by a student at Virginia Tech. “I was mad at the media because they made it seem like it was someone else’s fault. They tried to blame it on the school system and the police,” Ward said. “It wasn’t that big if a deal to me until they said it was one of the deadliest school shootings in history,” said Kena Bush, a freshman general health studies major at the University of Alabama. “Then it hit me that this was really bad.” On the University of Alabama campus, the incident has caused some students to think differently. “I wondered what I would do in that situation if it happened here,” Bush said. “I thought about if I would think about playing dead or if had been in the dorm when I happened.” The UAPD is well prepared, said Cathy Andreen, Director of Media Relations. “The UAPD is prepared to respond to any on campus crisis,” Andreen said. “They frequently do training exercises to be prepared for any situations on campus.” If any events become too large for the UAPD to handle alone, they have “a mutual agreement with the Tuscaloosa Police department and the Tuscaloosa Sheriffs department,” Andreen said. “They have a strong partnership in which they would come in and aid if the situation needed it.” Police officers are also assigned to dorms as part of the COP program, Community Oriented Policing, Andreen said. “I’m pretty confident with them [UAPD],” Bush said. “I haven’t had to use them for any reason, but I’m sure they would be very capable.” Bush walks to class glancing at passing students. “I'm more aware of my surroundings and I look at people more,’ Bush said. “If I know someone having a difficult time I will pay more attention to them bad be sure that all my friends are ok.”

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